“Talent is a pursued interest. Anything that you’re willing to practice, you can do.”
Bob Ross
The democratization of art instruction has expanded over the last century, from mid-century paint-by-numbers kits to televised instruction, and more recently, to digital technology. Web-based learning has also enabled entrepreneurial artists to share their art and technical tools online, allowing others to participate in the creative process. With membership plugins like Paid Membership Pro, they can take the learning experience to the next level and greatly impact the successful management and growth of an online art business.
Expanding an Art Business With Paid Memberships Pro
The ready availability of online art-as-a-business has allowed many artists to expand their reach. Lucy Schmidt, a painting instructor for ten years, started teaching art in small groups after garnering interest in the work she shared on social media.
Group teaching gave Lucy a creative outlet and the freedom to set her own schedule. However, as interest grew, she found she could not respond to the demand, needing to turn people away.
At the same time, she was also building a large gallery of her own designs, which she wanted to make more accessible to others. The solution: Lucy’s Painting Gallery, an online membership portal offering a plethora of resources for hobbyists and art instructors alike.
The website generates more revenue and allows Lucy to reach a far greater audience than before, and to scale her business without traveling all over.
The Tech That Makes Lucy’s Membership Work
Using a membership format with PMPro allowed Lucy to address the demand for her art teaching services and design gallery. It also gave her the flexibility to customize member types.
To design and build her membership website, Lucy sought out the assistance of MCS Advertising, a web marketing agency. Senior Web Developer Blake Whittle created the site using WordPress to take advantage of its extensive repository of plugins, integration with the page builders, and scalability for future growth.
Although he considered another membership plugin as an option, Blake decided to go with Paid Memberships Pro, with which he was already familiar, due to its management features, Add Ons, expandability, and customization. PMPro’s affordability, upgrade capability according to need, cost-free entry point, and its open source code were also factors that made it a sure winner for the project.
Also important for the website development were Elementor for design, Stripe for payment processing, and Advanced Custom Fields for customized content structure. The Dynamic Conditions plugin applies conditional logic to show or hide select elements, and Zapier easily integrates Lucy’s newsletter and customer list management.
The upload and private display of videos, a collection potentially as large as 600GB, was a challenge they met by using Infinite Uploads, a cloud-based secure storage and CDN solution that allows for bulk offloading, syncing with the site’s WordPress media library, easy embedding, and adaptive bitrate streaming. By using PMPro, only logged-in users with the proper membership have access to the videos.
How Lucy Structures Her Membership Tiers
Lucy has structured her membership plans to give members unlimited access to her growing library. This includes painting tutorials, ready-to-use designs, business tips, new content, and exclusive resources. These are carefully curated to inspire creative learners, as well as to support professional painting party instructors.
Currently, members can choose between a monthly plan at $25/month and an annual plan at $250. The incentive of the annual plan is the inclusion of two months free, plus a bonus art supply kit that includes items like paint pens, a utility knife, transfer paper, glitter, and other handy tools.
Both plans give members access to:
- Instruction appropriate for all levels
- Instant access to 50+ (and growing) video tutorials
- Youth art kits
- Monthly new content
- Downloadable tracers to accommodate the 16×20 and 11×14 inch canvases that Lucy uses in her tutorials
- Lists for paint colors and supplies
- A growing library of class-ready designs, with a minimum of two new designs added each month
- Access to an exclusive Facebook group for connection, sharing progress, exclusive content, and interactive challenges
In particular, artists who host painting parties receive:
- Instructions on how to transform tracers into templates for convenience when hosting painting parties
- Licensing rights to teach and sell the painting kit designs
- Business tips for successful painting parties
How PMPro Made Lucy’s Business Easier
Specific technical features in PMPro that help Lucy run her business include:
- The Zapier Add On to connect to other applications
- Sales and revenue reports
- Easily customizable email templates from within the WordPress admin
- Display of active members on the orders screen
- Organization of content
- Ability to start on PMPro’s free plan
- User-friendly interface
Simplifying customer experience was another PMPro advantage. From sign-up and account creation to accessing videos and downloadable PDFs, members can find whatever they need from one user-friendly location. This has helped Lucy expand her customer base and generate more revenue from a growing customer base.
Paid Memberships Pro was the glue that held everything together and made it all possible.
Blake Whittle, MCS Senior Web Developer
Growing an Online Community
Social media plays a critical role in driving traffic and supporting the growth of Lucy’s Painting Gallery. Lucy shares that she tries to be intentional about creating and sharing content that inspires her followers and helps her connect with a wider audience.
She wisely leverages other available channels for generating traffic, such as her painting party website Painting Parties by Lucy, where she still offers in-person painting parties. The site displays a linked call-to-action inviting interested party-goers to build on their painting party experience and continue their creative journey by becoming members of Lucy’s Painting Gallery.
Your customers are your biggest marketing tool; when they walk away talking about the wonderful experience they had, your business will naturally grow through repeat customers and word-of-mouth referrals.
—Lucy Schmidt, owner of Lucy’s Painting Gallery
Central to guiding Lucy’s business decisions are creativity, community, and integrity. These principles are also integral to her vision of helping others succeed—whether by giving hobbyists the confidence to develop their artistic skills or enabling instructors to save time and increase their income through her resources.
Ultimately, Lucy knows that people participate in her painting classes for a relaxing escape and an enjoyable time. Building and providing a welcoming community where members feel engaged, inspired, and connected is part of the fun and enriching experience that leads to referrals and growth.
My vision is to reach artists all around the world and continue growing a supportive community…with members not only learning from me but also building friendships and inspiring each other.
—Lucy Schmidt, owner of Lucy’s Painting Gallery
Lucy’s Social Channels:
- https://www.facebook.com/lucyspaintinggallery
- https://www.instagram.com/lucyspaintinggallery/
- https://www.tiktok.com/@lucyspaintinggallery
